"The Will of Rupture?" Jian Ling was greatly astonished.
"So you mean... Rupture Energy is conscious?"
It was no wonder he was so surprised; after all, it sounded too incredible.
However, Bronya shook her head.
"I don't know. We are also highly skeptical about this point."
"No one has truly seen it, and there is no information that can provide us with any reference."
"Alright..." Jian Ling expressed his understanding.
However, if that was the case, then they probably had no clue about his mysterious power either.
"Next question." Jian Ling changed the subject.
"Who is that man, and that black-robed person named 'Xing'? And who exactly are you? Why did you come here and infiltrate our school?" He aimed his questions at Bronya.
"Xing and my affairs are none of your concern. As for that man, heh~, he's just a minion." Bronya scoffed.
"I just said, the Deadmen regain their sanity when they reach the Apostle level, and the organization that guy belongs to is the Collapse God Cult—an organization formed by the majority of those who have been corrupted."
"They worship the so-called 'Will of Rupture,' honoring it as the 'Rupture God,' preaching their doctrines and recruiting followers all over the world. Simply put, it's a cult-like organization." Bronya's tone was chilling, seemingly holding a great deal of aversion towards it.
"As for why I'm here, of course, I have my mission, but this involves classified information and cannot be disclosed to you."
...
"Last question." The seriousness in Jian Ling's brows deepened a little.
"You said that Real Space and Imaginary Space are two independent planes, right? Then why does Rupture Energy, which exists in Imaginary Space, permeate into Real Space?" He asked one of the most fundamental and essential questions.
"Ah, that..."
"That's more complicated. For various reasons, the two opposing spaces should originally be incompatible, but with the development of human civilization, the balance between the spaces seems to have been broken for some reason."
"According to investigations, the penetration rate of Rupture Energy is highly positively correlated with the speed of civilization's progress, and civilization, as long as it exists, will not stand still..." At this point, her tone seemed to dim a little.
"To be honest, the rapid development in modern times has brought humanity more powerful strength, but the growth rate of Rupture has accelerated geometrically."
"The increasingly powerful Collapse God Cult, the succession of powerful Honkai beasts, and the frequent Honkai disasters occurring all over the world..."
"It's really... a bit overwhelming." Bronya showed a bitter smile. It was the first time Jian Ling had seen her make such an expression, but it was only for an instant, and she quickly returned to normal.
...
"Alright, I have no more questions." Jian Ling felt his brain was about to crash if he asked any more.
He had received too much information tonight; he needed time to properly digest it.
"Alright then, but since I've told you all this, you have an obligation to keep it a secret, and it also means you have officially entered the world of human Super-Powered Persons. Are you ready to say goodbye to your current peaceful life?" Bronya suddenly asked.
"..."
"Do I have a choice?" Jian Ling spread his hands, smiling helplessly.
As she said, the more he knew, the deeper he would be involved. Originally, he could have lived a peaceful life as an ignorant mortal, but now that he knew all this, he could no longer remain detached, nor could he suppress his desire to become stronger.
Perhaps human nature was just cheap.
Not seeking death to watch the excitement, not having a change of heart to save people... But having come this far, it seemed there was no turning back.
He didn't want to be stepped on and killed for no reason like an ant.
"But... why did you tell me all this? This shouldn't be your obligation, should it?" He looked at Bronya, a hint of suspicion in his eyes.
"It's simple, because..." She took out a dark purple crystal, the size of a grape, from her pocket.
"I want to recruit you."
"What? Recruit? Me?" Jian Ling pointed at himself in confusion. He was quite unaccustomed to Bronya suddenly being so direct.
"What? Is it strange?" The corners of her mouth seemed to curl slightly.
"Although this is not within the scope of my mission, recruiting suitable Super-Powered Persons to expand our strength has always been one of the goals of all major organizations." As she spoke, she threw the crystal in her hand to Jian Ling.
"This is a Rupture Energy crystal extracted from the corpse of an Emperor-class Honkai beast. After purification and refinement by living organisms, the Rupture Energy becomes relatively milder and can be absorbed by the human body. However, only Honkai beasts can produce this kind of thing; corrupted humans do not have it."
"However, even though it's only an Emperor-class crystal, it's still too powerful for you right now, so you'd best absorb it slowly in several increments, don't be too eager for quick success."
"After all... Super-Powered Persons are not without the risk of being corrupted," she slowly reminded him.
Jian Ling caught the crystal and held it in his hand, examining it carefully for a while.
He felt the enormous energy contained within this crystal. Although it was not as powerful as the black box, it was much stronger than the mass he had absorbed.
"This is just a down payment. If you accept my proposal and join the organization I belong to, I will give you another one."
"Of course, you can also choose to be a lone wolf, not joining any organization. I won't force you, but you should understand how difficult it is to find resources to become stronger as a lone wolf."
"Moreover, after you join us, we will also provide protection for your family and friends, so you no longer have any worries." Although Bronya did not make mandatory demands, her words clearly conveyed the meaning.
Join us, and you can get resources to quickly become stronger, and your relatives and friends will also receive protection.
If you don't join, then do as you please; from then on, we will go our separate ways.
"Don't worry, although the organization I belong to is not affiliated with the government, it is definitely a legitimate organization, not some crooked path; you can rest assured about that." As if seeing Jian Ling's doubts, Bronya smiled and added.
"I... need to think about it." After a long pause, Jian Ling replied in a low voice.
"Of course, that is your right." A card appeared out of thin air in Bronya's hand, and she flicked it out, landing it in Jian Ling's hand.
"If you've made up your mind, contact me at this number. Don't worry, it's answered 24 hours a day."
"Mm..." Jian Ling said no more, turned, leaped from the rooftop, and disappeared into the night.
It wasn't until his figure had completely vanished that Bronya released her clasped arms.
The watch in her hand, which was currently on a call, also revealed its true form.
"He's gone." Bronya spoke into the watch.
"Mm." A tender female child's voice came from the other end of the watch, sounding like a child of about ten, yet revealing a maturity inconsistent with her voice.
"Academy Principal, how do you feel?"
"Not bad. His psychological endurance is very strong. At least after hearing all you said tonight, he didn't immediately go crazy or suffer a mental breakdown, or get so scared his legs turned to jelly." The child's voice analyzed carefully.
"And his strength?"
"Judging from his performance tonight, he should have already reached D-class."
"He can reach D-class with just one absorption? Even among Super-Powered Persons, such talent is very outstanding." The child's voice was clearly a little surprised.
"How is the background check progressing?"
"It's almost complete. His background is very clean, and everyone he's associated with are ordinary people. There's no need to worry about him being a spy for the Cult." A rustling sound of flipping through documents came from the other end of the watch.
"Then it seems he meets the standards. Now it just depends on his own thoughts."
"Mm." The child's voice agreed, but then she changed the subject.
"But I really didn't expect, Bronya, that you would actually recommend someone else to join." The child's voice playfully teased her.
"The first reason I recruited him is his talent. The second reason, although I didn't need him to save me at the time, since he was willing to risk his life to save me, it at least proves that he is kind-hearted and won't do anything out of line after joining Hyperion." She replied casually.
"Out of line?" The child's voice paused, but quickly reacted.
"Oh, that's right. After all, on Hyperion, let alone male Super-Powered Persons, there are hardly any men even among the crew and command staff."
"What, Bronya, you didn't tell him that the ratio of females to males among human Super-Powered Persons is not even 7:3, did you?" The child's voice gave a mischievous chuckle.
"Of course not. Such an irrelevant matter can wait for him to discover it himself." Bronya replied indifferently.
Of course, she had another reason she didn't mention, which was that after he joined Hyperion, she could use her status to properly get back at him for calling her a 'Maozi' and hugging her earlier...
Bronya: Grudge face jpg.
Ten chapters advanced on my patreon.